Along Came Teddy
by Lily Anna Evans Potter
Summary: This story is about the drama caused by mother to be, Nymphadora Tonks!


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you've seen before, only the plot is mine!**

Nymphadora Tonks was sitting restlessly in her living room and rubbing her bulging belly agitatedly. Her due date was fast approaching and she was extremely nervous. Her mother, Andromeda, walked in at that moment looking upset about something. Given the current state of the wizarding world, Tonks couldn't say she was surprised at the look, so she merely asked "Mum, what happened?"

The answer was worse than expected however, as her mother answered quietly "Your due date and the full moon are on the same day!" At that moment, it felt like Tonks' whole world was coming crashing down around her. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill over, as the weight of what her mother had said, squeezed her heart like an iron fist. Finally she found her voice again and squeaked "Mum, are you sure?" "If t-that's true, then Remy won't be there when T-Teddy is born!"

Andromeda felt her heart break at the sight of her daughter sobbing pitifully with her face buried in the sofa cushions. She took a few tentative steps towards her daughter's frame, which shook with silent sobs and said gently, "Dora, you know he isn't leaving you by choice, besides, Molly promised she'd be there and so will I!"

Tonks sniffed and nodded, just as the front door opened, to reveal Remus standing in the doorway. The sight of him was too much for her hormones apparently, as her eyes glinted angrily and her hair turned bright red at the mere sight of him. Interpreting the danger signs, Andromeda hastily turned and ushered him into the kitchen, where she sat down at the table and motioned for him to join her. For a few moments, an awkward silence reigned in the room, which was finally broken, when Remus said dully "So, you told her then." Andromeda just nodded and said, "She took it really hard!"

"That much was obvious from her reaction when she saw me!" he replied with a sad smile. Andromeda sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, before her eyes lit up in excitement and she suggested, "Why don't we tell her the story of when Harry was born!"

Remus stared at her, puzzlement clearly visible in his expression, before he realized what she meant. Soon enough, a look of understanding, mingled with a reminiscent grin spread across his face. "That just might work", he agreed enthusiastically. With that, the two of them got up and headed back towards the living room, where Tonks was still sitting in the same defeated position she had been in half an hour previously. At the sight of her slumped in misery, Remus stopped dead. Andromeda allowed him a moment of hesitation, before pushing him towards her. With a nervous gulp he approached her tentatively. Gently, he laid a hand on her shoulder and forced her to meet his gaze. She looked at him with eyes that were as red from crying, as her hair had been when she first saw him.

"I'm sorry", he whispered so only she could hear him. She nodded and said, "I overreacted, I know you can't control the lunar cycle!" She gave him a quick kiss to prove she forgave him, before adding in a frustrated tone, "It's all these stupid hormones fault, they make me overreact to every little thing!"

He smiled slightly before responding, "Your Mum and I have thought of a story that might help you feel better about me not being there!" She stared at him enquiringly, "What story might that be" she asked, scepticism written all over her face.

At that point Andromeda, who had been listening to the exchange in silence, chipped in "It's the story of when Harry was born; the circumstances were very similar to yours!" Remus nodded in agreement, just as Tonks asked, "But Mum, how do you know the story of Harry's birth?" Andromeda shook her head in disbelief, as if she thought that knowing about it was to be taken for granted, before replying, "I was Lily Potter's Healer, of course I was there when she gave birth" "Did you forget that I used to be a Healer for St. Mungo's?"

Tonks nodded understandingly, at her mother's words, the memories of the long afternoons spent alone with her Dad while her Mum was at work came flooding back. With a smile, she recalled how much she looked forward to the days she was allowed to accompany her mother to work, once she was deemed old enough to witness the miracle of life taking place.

She shook herself mentally, so she could focus on her mother's story. She noticed that Remus and her mother had conjured a chair each on either side of her and were seated and ready to begin their story.

_Remus __apparated__ into the Ministry of Magic b__uilding with a resounding pop.__He ran towards the__ watchwizard's desk and flung his wand at the man. Once it had finally been inspected, he snatched it from the stunned watchwizard's grasp and ran as fast as he could towards the elevators. When he reached them he pushed his way into the crammed__ lift and hammered on the Level 2 button in manic desperation._

_When the cool female voice finally announced that the lift had arrived on Level 2, the __Auror__ Headquarters; Remus barged out of the lift and ran up the corridor to where the __Auror's__ office cubicles were located__. His progress was slowed thereafter, as the receptionist called after him__ in a sickly sweet voice__: "__Excuse me Sir, but__ what business__ do you have__ here?"_

_Swearing inwardly, Remus turned to her and said urgently, "I need to see James Potter it's an emergency!" He felt his temper rising at the sceptical smirk on her face before adding, louder than intended; "His wife is having a baby!" Apparently he had succeeded in getting his point across, because as quickly as it had come, the grin slid off her face and she motioned for him to enter Headquarters._

_Rolling his eyes at her in frustration, Remus hurried on, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of his friend.__ He didn't see James anywhere in the hallway, so in a real panic he ran towards his office which was inconveniently situated at the far end of the corridor. __When he reached it, he hammered on the door with one hand, clutching__a stitch in his side with the other._

_He heard James' voice swearing on the other side of the door, "Damn __Alastor__, stop pestering me! I said I'm working on those defensive theories!"_

_With a grimace at the thought of stressing James even more, Remus called: "Prongs, it's__ me,__ Moony__ let me__in!"_

_He stepped back hastily, as the door flew open.__ James emerged with a worried expression on his face, "What happened Moony", he asked with obvious concern in his voice. Remus took a deep __breath in__ anticipation of the panic attack he knew James would have __momentarily__ then said "Lily's gone into labour!"_

_One thing was clear__, James __would definitely have fainted or panicked or both, had Remus not been squeezing his hand comfortingly. As it was, he yelled in shock and tried to bolt, earning him a fair few curious glances from his co-workers.__ Once he had calmed down, he __apparated__ to St. Mungo's with a pop. __Remus followed him hurriedly__ to find him yelling at the shocked welcome-witch, only to receive furious glares from various passing Healers._

_Remus hurried James away from the lobby after apologizing to the receptionist and asking, rather more politely than James had__, for__ directions the maternity ward.__ The first thing they saw as they raced into the waiting room of the delivery ward, was __Wormtail__ sitting slumped in a chair wringing his hands. James rushed up to him and said; "__Wormtail__, what's goin__g on in there, is Lily alright?" _

_Peter__ shrugged helplessly and replied; "I'm sorry Prongs, I couldn't take he__r screaming at me anymore, __Padfoot__ stayed in there with her though!"_

_Before James could respo__nd to that, they heard a painful__ scream issuing from the delivery room and Remus said; "Prongs mate, if you don't get in there now she'll kill you! James nodded resolutely, with the air of a man bracing himself for the worst and entered the delivery room, closely followed by Remus_

_At the sight of the two of them, Sirius jumped up, barged over to them and demanded; "What on earth took you so long, I've lost all__ the feeling in my fingers! _

_Before either of them could answer, Lily shrieked: "James Harold Potter, if you know what's good for you, you'll get over here right NOW!! Meekly, James moved to Lily's bedside, but not before throwing his smir__king friends a pair of death glares._

_Half an hour later,__ Lily __was ready to push as a final contraction hit, causing her to give another agonizing scream. Apart from the fact that James had numb fingers by this time, he was coping with Lily's rage pretty well, until in an unfortunate turn of events, Andromeda said; "I can see the head, keep going Lily!"_

_James prised his fingers out of Lily's grasp at those words__ and rushed around to the end of the bed, the better to see the emerging baby. He evidently had not expected to see any blood, because seconds later there was a thud of something hitting the floor, accompanied by a shocked gasp from Andromeda. Lily meanwhile,__ had taken to yelling curses at R__emus__, who had positioned himself at Lily's side in James' stead, while Sirius joined his cousin at the foot of the bed and exclaimed; "Holy Merlin Lil, your dear husband is out cold!_

Having completed their story, Remus and Andromeda fell silent, in anticipation of Tonks' reaction to their tale. At first she simply looked at them without a word, then she said slowly; "That was a fascinating story and all, but how is it supposed to make me feel any better!"

Andromeda and Remus exchanged glances and then Andromeda said, with a hint of exasperation in her voice;

"Sweetheart, the key point is James was unconscious when Harry actually came out!" "Despite being there, he missed his son's birth!"

"I see" Tonks nodded, although her expression was still a sceptical one. Andromeda threw Remus a helpless look and mouthed; "Now what?"

Before he could say anything, Tonks heaved herself to her feet and groaned loudly. Her mother shot her a quizzical glance and gasped; there was something trickling down her legs that gave the impression she had wet herself.

"Was that what I think it was?" questioned Andromeda. Her daughter grimaced and responded; "Yes, it was!" while Remus watched the exchange with a stunned expression on his face.

The next few hours were a blur to Remus, he took it upon himself to contact Molly and Fleur Weasley who showed up as promised, albeit obviously a few days earlier than expected. Molly even made Ginny tag along, as a surprise for Tonks, who was very fond of the younger girl.

When asked about the experience of childbirth later on, all Remus would say, was that he regretted making fun of James when Harry was born. Having the love of your life scream that she hated you really was an unpleasant experience.

He had plenty of good things to say too however, as he stated there was nothing in the world more magical than holding a product of love in your arms for the first time. In addition, young Teddy Remus Lupin was a Metamorphagus, just like his mother. His hair was turquoise at birth, a fact that his parents advertised proudly to anyone who would listen. As for Tonks, well she was happy in a way that teddy was born early, because Remus was there to support her as a result.

Little did Remus and Tonks know that just two weeks after their little bundle of joy came into the world, they would be leaving the world of the living, fighting in the Final Battle for a safer world, for the REAL greater good!

**A/N I hope you liked that, it was just an idea that hit me when I had writer's block for HPBF but I'm glad I saw it through to the end as it now has a special place in my heart. I would also like to thank everyone who responded to my forum topic about this story, without their help I couldn't have finished this!**


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